The hands of the colossal clock continued to move.

Crackle! Crackle!!

The black, burning armor Neltarid wore was nothing more than rags, but they didn’t slow down. In fact, they only grew faster and faster.

“Ugh?!”

Boom!!

Isildi was blown away like a tumbleweed by an immense shockwave. “Holy cow... this is crazy. I can’t move my arm at all.”

Isildi kept shaking her injured arm as if the pain was unbearable. “Hey! They’re getting stronger!! What are you going to do now?!”

Neltarid, after turning into an evil god, proved far more powerful than Davey had expected. Worse, they were gradually becoming even stronger.

The space had turned from a simple dimensional rift into the domain of the evil god Neltarid. While they became stronger, the space’s interference worked against Davey to simultaneously weaken him.

They had already known what Davey was capable of, and thus prepared for it.

“Hmph!!”

Illyna attacked with the Continuum-Attacking Blade. Neltarid met it head-on with a longsword of pure darkness.

Isildi, crouched low, took advantage of the brief opening and flashed toward them. “If you want to die, just die alone!”

Moving at a speed that was almost impossible to follow, she gripped her sword with her uninjured arm and slashed straight across Neltarid’s chest.

The solid, jet-black armor ripped open, and black mist burst out. It was like a torrent of blood, like the presence of a god scattering.

Suddenly, the black mist wrapped around Illyna and Isildi.

“Ugh?!”

“W-what in the world?!”

Davey could tell that once the black mist fully encroached them, it’d be the end.

He used the time they bought him to release all the power he had gathered.

It was time for Starbreaker. He used the same method as before, when he released all the power stored in his title.

After everything he went through, he could no longer use the power of his title like he used to. However, with his current strength, he could still recreate the power of Starbreaker to some extent, something he had relied on for a long time.

It was the ability to release the force he gathered periodically, blasting it all outward in a single instant. He quickly forced immense power into the divine spear Longinus and hurled it forward.

Thud!!

The golden spear flashed forward while annihilating everything within its range. The barrier Neltarid had put up was instantly shattered, unable to withstand the colossal force. The sight of it tearing through like a breath attack that pierced a mountain was truly spectacular.

Of course, Davey didn't think that alone would be enough to stop them.

Thud!!

“Hmph?!”

He followed up by kicking the tip of Longinus, driving a secondary burst of propulsion into its shaft.

Squelch!!!

Longinus finally pierced through Neltarid’s armor, then Davey slammed a powerful dropkick into them.

Clank!!!

“Cough! Cough, cough.”

“Ugh. Gah! Cough! Haah. Damn it, I almost died.”

Illyna and Isildi, who had been nearly encroached by the black mist, were back on the ground.

Gasping for breath and coughing as if they had held their breath for a long time, they looked at Davey and Neltarid with complicated expressions.

He harshly commanded, “Both of you, fall back!”

“Davey!”

He knew he couldn’t kill Neltarid by just single-mindedly swinging a weapon like he would against an ordinary foe.

Given Neltarid was enduring even Super Ribbon's power, no matter how strong Illyna and Isildi were, keeping them there any longer was too dangerous for nonexistent benefit.

Thud!!

Davey fused Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon into Super Ribbon, then clashed head-on with Neltarid’s pitch-black sword.

He felt a colossal force travel through Super Ribbon’s blade.

“A battle of raw strength, huh?”

‘Sorry, but fighting with longswords is my specialty.’

Davey parried the black sword that was pressing him and deflected it away. Both of them were pushed back, but neither Neltarid nor Davey stopped. They swung toward each other again.

However, unlike before, Super Ribbon now carried the explosive weight of a star.

[Longsword]

[Masterpiece]

[No-Named King]

Neltarid countered his attack with their own longsword. Just based on the sword size, it would make sense for them to be overwhelmingly dominant against Davey, but that wasn’t the case.

Boom!!!

The moment the swords clashed, a powerful force swept Neltarid up and sent them flying back. It was an extreme attack that Davey had put all his might into. While he had attacked after going through divine manifestation and everything else to buff it, that strike alone wasn’t enough to destroy the entire space.

He needed a stronger blow.

A freaking massive blow.

If Thanatos or the destruction side had been able to properly set up such a barrier in the past, they probably would’ve won.

Still, as the fight dragged on, he began to see ways to deal with Neltarid’s new strengths.

They rose from between the shattered cracks in the ground. Even after taking that powerful hit and having half their armor torn apart, they stood up just fine. They were like a mad angel that kept regenerating even against Super Ribbon.

“Already tired?” Their tone was distinctly different from before. They sounded quite relaxed, but their voice was deeper and rougher than the old Neltarid, and the way they looked at Davey felt like they were mocking him. “As you should be. This alternate space was created for you from the start.”

Neltarid was an entity who cooperated with Davey for a long time, unlike Thanatos. For that reason, they knew Davey very well.

Excluding Goddess Freyja, who was an impossible opponent, Neltarid was the most difficult god for him to face.

Davey didn't reply to their taunt.

It was then. Neltarid’s body shivered, and their gaze turned toward the black sword in their hand.

Ssss.

For some reason, their sword was very slowly scattering like dust.

“The time has come.”

They threw the sword away without hesitation. Before long, the black sword completely vanished.

Them losing their weapon was clearly a good sign, as it gave him a significant advantage. However, it didn't take long for Davey to realize that such a thought process was wrong.

Neltarid spread their hands, and an enormous aura began to gather.

Illyna remarked, “You know... this is just a hunch... but that sword might’ve been sealing them, don’t you think?”

“Uh. I can clearly see that, so just shut up and get going already,” he responded.

“It looks like it's already too late?”

At that, Davey looked up, and saw the clock's hand had begun to accelerate rapidly.

His eyes snapped open. He pulled Isildi and Illyna, who were trying to take cover, into his arms before forcing his power out.

Instinctively sensing that the clock’s hand was dangerous, they all frantically tried to stop it. However, a massive hand-shaped halo of light pressed down on them and interfered.

Davey knew it was impossible to block their magic in such a situation. It’d be foolish to waste energy on magic that would reactivate even if he broke it once.

Actually, that wasn’t the case. To be precise, he had no intention of stopping that power.

He soon cast a defensive spell over the two women. He then activated a magic he had recently completed with Odin's help.

Watching the thin, transparent cloth-like barrier spread out in all directions, he clenched his fists and let his divine power run rampant.

“Annihilate.”

“Da—” Illyna shouted frantically, but he could no longer hear her.

The immense shockwave pushed everything away so fast that even her voice couldn’t reach him.

It was the collapse of a colossal mass. A supernova explosion.

More precisely, it would be a massive explosion caused by an ultra-dense mass being compressed to the brink of collapse.

It would soon swallow everything in its path.

The massive shockwave would tear apart even the special space Neltarid had created. It would be so powerful that it could instantly bring down even a demigod-level being.

Nevertheless, Davey didn't stop the magic; instead cautiously waited for the right moment. Once the explosion finally reached its critical point, he plunged in without hesitation, taking it head-on.

“You're taking a reckless chance!” Neltarid hadn't noticed the magic he had cast. They seemed to think he was just foolishly plunging in. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time.

Knowing that Neltarid had gained immense power but lost their divine vision was extremely valuable.

Davey protected his face with his left hand and made Super Ribbon resonate strongly.

At the same time, he instantly drew the wide, thin and transparent barrier back to her blade.

His goal had been only one thing from the start.

It seemed like Neltarid finally noticed the immense power gathering on her blade, as their eyes flashed brightly. “Is that?!”

“Thanks for your power!”

“You despicable bast—!!!”

Boom!!!

Davey absorbed the immense power created by the supernova explosion and then unleashed it once more.

The power that had escaped Neltarid’s control now swallowed them and the barrier they had cast.

“GRRRR!!!” As Neltarid let out a bizarre sound and tried to endure the colossal force they themselves had unleashed, Davey twisted Super Ribbon’s blade and aimed its tip at them.

They taunted, “It's decent, but do you think this can take me down?!”

“Of course.”

‘Here's one more present for you.’

From the start, this immense power wasn't something Davey had created. It was their own power. In other words, his power was simply to collect the supernova explosion power Neltarid created and then release it again.

On top of that, Davey used his divine power to focus the power to one extremely fine point. The power contained within that single strike contained astronomical explosive force.

Crack!!

The domain that was protecting Neltarid soon completely shattered before they were wrapped in the blast.